Christmas has been a welcome break from my addiction to Brexit podcasts. Perhaps for that reason I’m seeing things less feverishly than a few weeks ago. No new answers to it all have emerged of course – we’re in a genuine pickle in this country – but it’s not time to give up onContinue reading “2019: sunlit lowlands”
Tag Archives: politics
Government divided and confused, so is public – but business means business
This from Sir John Curtice the other day is a great reminder of the realities of public opinion on Brexit: Curtice for the BBC: what kind of Brexit. I picture the dashing data knight as Cleese’s Sir Lancelot at the wedding in Holy Grail, running amok through the castle, wantonly butchering hapless garlanded politicians with his SwordContinue reading “Government divided and confused, so is public – but business means business”
Long hot summer of Brexit may be about to get hotter
Never make predictions, they say, especially on blogs that people might read after the prediction has already died a death. But after England lose 17-16 to Colombia on penalties this evening, in a bizarre shoot-out in which Gloria from Modern Family races onto the pitch dressed in a Carlos Valderrama wig, bearing the skull ofContinue reading “Long hot summer of Brexit may be about to get hotter”
Eating the cabin boy: clues to Brexit from the mists of the Noughties
The period around a decade ago, at any given time, is often lost in a Bermuda Triangle of cultural amnesia. We remember very recent events; and we enjoy revisiting events further back, the tracks through which have been trodden down by enough historians to count as ‘history’. But go back only one decade and weContinue reading “Eating the cabin boy: clues to Brexit from the mists of the Noughties”
What kind of Brexit? Don’t just ask the 52 per cent – we’re all leaving
Brexit means Brexit. When I studied law, that’s what we called a “circular definition”. The question of what it does mean – that is, how Brexit is to be carried out and what future relationship with the EU we are aiming for – has been deferred. Until now that is. The political mood seems toContinue reading “What kind of Brexit? Don’t just ask the 52 per cent – we’re all leaving”
Another great election tool (and it’s not a politician)
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2015/apr/20/election-2015-constituency-map The Grauniad has a nice interactive tool on the website now, allowing you to check the polls constituency by constituency (click on the link above). I also like the UK map on there a lot, which is morphed to reflect where most people live. It’s a great antidote to those more strictly territorial mapsContinue reading “Another great election tool (and it’s not a politician)”
Which party will Calm Persistence favour?
I was interested to hear on The World At One the other day about the voter segmentation Populus (who have advised the Conservatives) have been using: BBC on Populus voter segmentation. There’s a test on there so you can see which category you’re in. The Populus segments are: 1. Comfortable Nostalgia: “They tend to be older,Continue reading “Which party will Calm Persistence favour?”
A Dickensian Present
Theatre Alibi: The Curiosity Shop Sometimes you get a serendipitous coming together of your work with something in the culture. This week I’ve been clocking up the miles doing social research in some of the less frequented corners of the land, interviewing financially vulnerable people at home; and last night, the smell of second-hand roll-upContinue reading “A Dickensian Present”
Tips from an even better writer than Joey Barton
Start The Week on Radio 4 this morning is about political writing, using George Orwell‘s essay Politics and the English Language as a launchpad: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q8l31. Orwell came up with six practical rules to help people avoid bad writing: Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing inContinue reading “Tips from an even better writer than Joey Barton”
A place where demographics are politics
Expect plenty about N. Ireland identity issues in 2013, as Derry/Londonderry is the new UK City of Culture this year. William Crawley from my neck of the woods has made an interesting programme for Radio 4 on the rise of a specifically Northern Irish identity (vs solely British or solely Irish) in the 2011 census.Continue reading “A place where demographics are politics”
Strangers on the Shore 